Veil II, 2004

Pakistani born Rashid Rana has earned a well deserved reputation as being one of the most potent visual artists of our time. After acquiring a Bachelors in fine art at the National College of Arts in Lahore, Pakistan in 1992 and a Masters in fine art at Massachusetts College of Art in Boston in 1994 Rashid Rana has had a highly successful art career with many group and solo art exhibits that have been shown worldwide. Though trained as a painter, Rashid Rana is not confined to the one medium. He has also created many works using more modern methods such as digital photography, video and installation art to name a few. The subjects he tends to focus on are typically politically driven and witty depictions of pop culture. Some of Rashid Rana’s most famous pieces are photo mosaics consisting of thousands of small photographs of relating subject matter. These particular works are highly efficient in delivering the message that though you may see one thing at a distance, to truly understand the issue at hand you need to look closely at the details, much like the work of Vik Muniz. For instance, his popular mosaic The World is Not Enoughis an image of a seascape that is comprised of an unfathomable amount of photos taken of landfills. Currently Rashid Rana is based in Lahore, Pakistan and in between art projects is working as a faculty member at Beacon house National University working at the School of Visual Arts and Design.